jKrmofve  of  a  eottutre  Boll. 


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My  purchase    p.  9 


MEMOIRS 


OF  A 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 

WRITTEN   BY  HERSELF. 


BY 

MARY  CURTIS. 


COMPANION  TO  THE  "  MEMOIRS  OF  A  LONDON  DOLL." 


With  Illustrations  by  D.  C.  Johnston. 


BOSTON  AND  CAMBRIDGE: 
JAMES  MUNROE  &  COMPANY. 

MDCCCLIII. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 
James  Munkoe  &  Co. 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


THURSTON,  TORRY,  AND  EMERSON,  PRINTERS. 


Tuv 


DEDICATION. 

To  my  Sisters,  Fanny  and  Caroline. 

I  HOPE  YOU  WILL 

NOT  DESPISE  MY  FIRST  EFFORTS,  AND  THAT  YOU  WILL  FIND 
AS  MUCH  PLEASURE  IN  READING  THIS  LITTLE  BOOK,  AS  I 
HAVE  HAD  IN  WRITING  IT. 

Mary  Curtis. 


The  following  Memoirs  were  written  by  one  of  our 
young  friends,  (but  eleven  years  of  age,)  for  her  amuse- 
ment while  sojourning  in  the  country  the  past  summer. 
The  interest  she  appeared  to  take  in  them,  has  been 
the  cause  of  their  publication  ;  and  to  the  growing  judg- 
ments, and  gentle  criticisms  of  such  little  readers,  the 
volume  is  submitted. 

The  Publishers. 

bosto-v,  dec2m3ep,  1852. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  I. 

My  Purchase,  and  two  Mothers 

II. 

Ellen  Green 

13 

III. 

My  Sickness  . 

16 

IV. 

Emma's  Cousin  —  My  next  Mamma 

19 

•'  *"«  V. 

Gardening 

22 

VI. 

Blackberrying 

28 

"  VII. 

Balls,  Parties,  &c.  . 

34 

"  VIII. 

Doll's  Correspondence  . 

37 

IX. 

The  Seashore 

40 

X. 

An  Accident 

43 

XI. 

Quarrelsome  Mothers 

46 

"  XII. 

The  Snow-Men     .          .  . 

50 

"  XIII. 

The  Theatre  . 

53 

»  XIV. 

My  Stage  Experience 

56 

«  XV. 

The  Pantomime 

59 

"  XVI. 

My  next  Mother  . 

65 

"  XVII. 

Nutting  . 

68 

«  XVIII. 

An  Old  Maid  and  a  Grandmother 

74 

"  XIX. 

Accidents  . 

77 

"  XX. 

Conclusion 

81 

MEMOIRS 

OF    A    COUNTRY  DOLL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MY  PURCHASE,  AND  TWO  MOTHERS. 

The  first  I  can  recollect  is,  that  I  was 
very  long  lying  in  a  box  in  Soho  bazaar, 
till  one  day  I  was  taken  down  by  one  of 
the  shopkeepers,  and  shown  to  a  very 
pretty  little  girl,  abont  three  years  old, 
who,  after  looking  a  whole  case  through', 
chose  me.  This  little  girl  had  flaxen 
curls,  and  was  dressed  very  prettily.  Her 
name  was  Lucy  Fitzhenry.  She  wrapped 
l 


10 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


me  up  and  carried  me  home  to  her  house 
in  the  country,  which  was  a  very  pretty 
country-seat.  Two  or  three  days  after  she 
had  me,  her  nurse  cut  some  very  pretty 
clothes  for  me.  My  under-clothes  were 
of  very  fine  linen,  and  my  dresses  of 
flowered  muslin,  blue  merino,  and  spotted 
calicoes.  My  mother  was  very  careful  of 
me ;  she  washed  me  every  morning  (for  I 
was  a  porcelain  Doll),  and  dressed  me, 
and  undressed  me  at  night.  One  day  she 
took  me  into  town  to  see  the  Queen  and 
Prince  Albert,  which  I  enjoyed  very  much 
indeed.  As  we  were  coming  home  in  the 
carriage,  little  Lucy  let  me  drop  out  the 
window,  upon  some  burdock  leaves,  where 
I  lay  for  some  time.  "When  I  lay  there, 
several  caterpillars  came  and  crawled  over 
me,  and  I  thought  that  they  were  not  very 
pleasant  company  ;  however,  I  did  not  tell 
them  so.    After  I  had  lain  there  for  about 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


11 


two  or  three  hours,  I  was  picked  up  by  a 
little  raspberry  picker,  who  was  a  German, 
named  Johanna  Worstel,  who  was  over- 
joyed to  find  such  a  beautiful  doll,  and 
went  instantly  to  show  her  brother,  Ro- 
bertin,  who  was  also  very  glad.  They 
then  agreed  to  wrap  me  up  in  a  cloth 
in  which  they  had  brought  their  dinner, 
and  there  I  lay*  until  night  and  thought 
over  my  past  life;  how  my  little  mother 
Lucy  had  been  so  kind  to  me;  how 
she  liad  taken  me  out,  ducked  me  in 
a  little  stream,  then  dried  me  in  the 
sun,  laughed  with  me,  kissed  me,  and 
talked  about  my  new  mamma,  when  sud- 
denly a  gust  of  wind  took  my  cloak  off, 
and  I  laid  there  very  cold.  However, 
my  mother  came  very  soon  and  took  me 
up.  "  Poor  doll,"  said  she,  "  how  very 
cold  she  must  be,"  and  therefore  she 
wrapped  me  up  in  my  dress  very  tightly, 


12 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


and  then  we  went  home.  Their  home 
was  in  a  little  building,  (it  was  once  an 
out-house,  but  the  house  had  been  re- 
moved and  it  stood  alone,)  where  we  had 
a  very  nice  supper  of  water-cresses,  bread 
and  cheese.  After  that  I  was  covered 
over  with  some  leaves,  and  there  I  went 
to  sleep. 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


13 


CHAPTER  II. 

ELLEN  GREEN. 

Early  next  morning  my  mother  woke 
me  up  and  carried  me  to  the  field.  After 
a  while  she  spoke  to  her  brother  Ro- 
bertin,  and  said,  - —  "  Roby,  don't  you  tink 
dat  I  had  better  go  and  give  dis  little 
dolly  to  Emma  Arthurst?"  "Yes,"  said 
Robertin,  "  for  don't  you  know  how  kind 
she  was  to  us."  So  off  they  started  to  give 
me  to  Emma,  who  was  about  five  years  old. 
Little  Emma  was  delighted  and  gave  Jo- 
hanna a  half  crown.  My  mother,  Emma, 
had  another  doll,  whose  name  was  Ellen 
Green,  (by  the  by,  I  never  had  any  name 
till  my  new  mother  gave  me  one,  which 
was  Josephine  Arnoldson,)  but  I  think 


11 


MEMOIRS  OF  A 


to  this  day  she  was  a  very  naughty  doll ; 
for  she  always  spilt  her  tea  on  her  dress, 
knocked  down  chairs,  danced  on  the  table, 
and  I  don't  know  what  else.  One  day 
my  mother  came  and  took  me  early  from 
my  nice  little  bed,  and  dressed  me  in  a 
beautiful  frock  of  white  muslin,  with  a 
pink  sash,  and  violets  and  other  flowers 
in  my  sash.  I  had  seen  my  mother 
working  on  something  for  some  time, 
and  now  I  knew  what  it  was.  My  mother 
then  told  me  that  it  was  May-day,  and 
that  I  was  to  go  to  a  May  party;  but 
she  said  that  Ellen  should  not  go  because 
she  had  behaved  so  naughty.  At  first  I 
was  glad  to  hear  this,  but  after  a  while 
I  felt  differently  and  begged  my  mother  to 
let  her  go.  Whether  my  mother  could 
not  withstand  my  pleading,  or  had  deter- 
mined to  try  Ellen  once  more,  I  don't  know, 
but  she  at  last  consented  to  take  Ellen. 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  15 
i 

My  mother  was  dressed  in  white,  and  so 
were  a  great  many  other  little  girls..  We 
enjoyed  ourselves  very  much,  but  at  last 
Ellen  began  to  behave  badly.  She  tore 
a  hole  in  her  dress,  and  at  last  she 
acted  so  badly,  that  my  mother  had  to 
put  her  in  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  tree  where 
wTe  left  her.  Then  we  all  went  into  a 
clump  of  most  beautiful  pine  trees,  and 
eat  our  dinner  there.  After  that  we 
played  round,  and  then  went  home,  not 
without  taking  Ellen  with  us.  I  had 
stayed  with  my  present  mother  about  six 
months  when  I  was  taken  sick,  the 
account  of  which  I  will  defer  to  my 
next. 


16 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  III. 

MY  SICKNESS. 

•    '  J 

One  night  as  I  was  lying. in  my  bed, 
my  head  began  to  swim,  my  lips  were 
parched,  and  I  felt  very  sick.  After  pass- 
ing the  night  in  great  distress,  my  mother 
came  to  me  and  said,  "  Dear  little  Josey, 
how  sick  you  look ! "  and  so  she  did  not 
take  me  up.  By  and  by  the  little  girl 
who  played  the  most  with  Emma  came 
in  and  said,  "Why,  Emma,  you  have 
not  taken  your  doll  up  this  morning." 
"  No,"  said  Emma,  "  she  is  very  sick,  and 
so  I  did  not  think  it  best  to  take  her 
up."  "Well,"  said  the  other  little  girl, 
"  I  will  be  a  doctor,  and  you  must  send 
for  me  to  come  and  attend  your  doll."  So 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


17 


Emma  sent,  and  the  little  girl  came  and 
ordered  me  some  pills  and  a  powder, 
which  I  was  to  take.  They  made  the 
pills  out  of  bread  and  the  powder  out 
of  slate-pencil  dust.  I  took  these  and 
they  quieted  my  pain  some,  but  still  I 
was  very  sick.  The  next  morning  the 
doctor  came  and  ordered  me  .something 
else,  which  I  took,  as  in  duty  bound, 
although  I  must  say  it  did  not  taste 
very  good.  After  two  or  three  weeks  I 
began  to  get  a  little  better,  and  then 
Ellen  came  and  saw  me;  but  she  began 
to  talk  in  her  old  way  about  my  having 
new  dresses,  and  she  having  to  take 
mine,  (for  she  and  I  were  of  the  same 
size,)  and  her  having  to  stay  in  the 
trunk  while  I  enjoyed  myself,  and  then 
she  ended  by  saying  that  she  was  glad  I 
was  sick,  for  now  she  could  have  her  own 
way,  as  she  had  before  I  came.    I  found 


18  MEMOIRS  OF  A 

out  afterwards  ■  that  my  mother  had  been 
telling  Ellen  about  me,  and  saying  that  I 
was  a  pink  of  perfection,  and  that  she 
ought  to  pattern  by  me.  So  Ellen  hated 
me  heartily,  w7hich  I  was  very  sorry  for, 
as  I  had  a  sort  of  liking  for  her,  although 
she  did  behave  so  badly.  One  evening 
after  tea,  Emma  having  left  the  room,  her 
father  said,  "  Wife,  I  think  that  as  Emma 
is  old  enough  to  help  us,  that  she  had 
better  begin  next  week  about  the  dairy 
and  help  you.  She  will  have  to  dispense 
with  her  dolls,  and  I  think  she  had  better 
give  her  prettiest  doll  to  her  cousin,  who, 
I  dare  say,  will  like  it."  When  Emma 
came  in,  her  father  told  her  his  intentions, 
and  how  she  had  better  give  the  handsom- 
est doll  to  her  cousin  Celeste.  Emma 
cried  very  much  at  leaving  her  doll,  and 
so  did  I,  but  she  thought  it  better  to 
do  so. 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


19 


CHAPTER  IV. 

emma's  cousin — my  next  mamma. 

Next  day  Emma  dressed  herself  very 
neatly,  and  rode  over  to  her  cousin's, 
which  was  about  five  miles  from  her 
father's  house.  Emma  cried  all  the  way, 
and  I,  in  spite  of  myself,  could  not  help 
crying  too.  At  last  we  arrived  at  a  very 
splendid  mansion-house,  where  Emma's 
cousin  lived.  Her  aunt  was  very  glad  to 
have  Emma  come,  and  Celeste  was  very 
much  pleased  with  her  doll,  although  she 
said  she  was  almost  too  old  to  have  a  doll. 
By  and  by  Emma  went  home,  and  I  was 
left  in  the  hands  of  my  new  mamma.  She 
then  called  her  brother,  Maximilian  Bel- 
mont, to  see  her  doll,  which  he  thought 


20 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


was  very  pretty  indeed.  My  last  mother 
had  told  me  that  her  aunt  was  a  "  baron- 
ess," and  her  uncle  a  "baron,"  which  I 
was  very  glad  to  hear,  as  I  thought  I 
should  see  some  very  high  life.  The  next 
day  my  new  mother  went  out  with  her 
governess  to  buy  some  things  for  me,  and 
as  they  could  not  buy  any  thing  fit  for  me 
in  the  country,  they  went  into  town. 
They  went  to  the  very  same  place  where 
I  was  first  bought  by  my  first  mamma, 
Lucy,  and  bought  me  a  swinging  bed, 
with  mattress,  and  all  complete ;  also  a 
tea-set,  bureau,  piano,  a  set  of  parlor 
furniture,  and  a  most  beautiful  bracelet, 
necklace,  ring,  and  a  pair  of  ear-rings. 
We  next  drove  to  a  jeweller's,  and  had  my 
ears  pierced,  and  the  bracelet  was  marked 
"  Josephine  Arnoldson."  I  forgot  to  say 
that  my  mother  bought  me  a  most  beauti- 
ful little  house  that  I  could  live  in,  and 


Celeste  B.eimonts  house    P  SO 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


21 


had  it  carpeted,  papered,  painted  and  fur- 
nished. The  next  day  my  mother's  gov- 
erness cut  out  some  dresses  for  me.  I 
had  morning  dresses,  afternoon,  visiting, 
riding,  party  and  ball  dresses.  My  party 
and  ball  dresses  were  so  very  handsome 
indeed,  that  I  think  I  must  let  my 
readers  know  what  I  had.  My  party 
dress  was  a  pink  silk,  looped  up  in  front, 
showing  a  white  satin  skirt  embroidered  up 
and  down  with  flowers  over  the  silk.  My 
ball  dress  was  a  white  satin  with  white 
crape  over  it,  and  small  bouquets  down 
the  front,  white  kid  gloves,  an  embroider- 
ed handkerchief,  white  silk  stockings,  and 
white  satin  slippers.  Also  a  most  beauti- 
ful wreath  of  orange  flowers  and  forget- 
me-nots  for  my  hair,  for  I  had  real  hair 
which  curled. 


22 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  V. 

GARDENING. 

One  day  I  observed  my  mother  put  on 
her  things  very  slily,  call  her  governess 
and  tell  her  to  put  on  her  things  also,  and 
come  out.  I  thought  to  myself,  "  What 
can  this  mean  \  My  mother  has  put  on 
her  clothes,  called  the  footman  and  ordered 
the  carriage,  and  has  taken  her  governess 
with  her."  I  guess  it  is  something  that  I 
am  not  to  know ;  for  if  it  were  not,  I  cer- 
tainly would  have  gone  with  her.  As  I 
did  not  feel  very  well,  I  thought  that  I 
would  lie  down  on  my  bed  and  take  a  nap. 
In  a  couple  of  hours  my  mother  came 
home,  and  coming  into  the  room  where 
my  baby-house  was,  took  me  out  of  the 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


23 


bed,  without  saying  a  word  to  me  about 
her  having  been  out.  I  burned  all  the 
time  to  know  what  she  had  been  out  for. 
I  could  hardly  eat  my  dinner,  and  when 
tea  came  I  could  eat  nothing.  The  next 
day,  at  twelve,  a  man  rang  at  the  hall- 
door,  and  my  mother  ran  down  to  let  him 
in,  a  thing  that  she  had  never  done  before, 
and  which  made  me  so  curious  that  I 
could  not  stand.  In  a  few  minutes  my 
mother  came  running  up  stairs,  and  put  a 
little  bundle  into  my  hands.  I  opened  it 
very  quickly,  and  what  did  I  see  but  a 
little  hoe,  rake,  spade  and  wheelbarrow! 
I  thought  that  I  could  never  thank  my 
mother  enough.  When  she  saw  how 
pleased  I  was,  she  told  me  that  I  should 
have  a  piece  of  ground,  and  she  would  get 
me  some  seeds,  and  she  would  also  imme- 
diately make  me  a  gardening  dress,  so  that 
I  could  commence  the  next  day.  Oh, 


24 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


how  I  longed  for  the  morrow  to  come, 
and  when  the  morning  dawned  I  was 
almost  crazy.  My  mother  put  on  my 
dress,  and  giving  me  my  tools  took  me 
into  the  garden,  where  I  took  my  first 
lesson  in  gardening.  I  thought  it  was 
delightful.  My  mother  told  me  that  I 
should  soon  get  along  very  fast,  and  that 
I  should  plant  some  flower  and  vegetable 
seeds.  I  felt  very  smart,  and  began  to 
work  away  quite  industriously,  making 
improvement  in  the  looks  of  my  garden. 
When  my  mother  appeared  and  told  me 
breakfast  was  ready,  I  could  hardly  believe 
it,  the  time  had  passed  so  quickly.  The 
next  morning  my  mother  waked  me  at 
half  past  five,  and  dressing  me  took  me 
out.  As  we  were  going  along  to  the 
garden  we  saw  by  the  road-side  a  flock  of 
geese,  and  as  we  passed  along  they  set  up 
a  tremendous  hissing.    Oh,  how  frighten- 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


25 


ed  I  was  ;  but  my  mother  laughed  at  my 
fears,  and  told  me  not  to  be  afraid,  as  they 
would  not  hurt  me.  When  I  got  to  the 
garden,  I  was  all  of  a  tremble,  and  for 
five  minutes  I  could  not  do  any  thing.  I 
got  the  garden  all  finished  that  morning 
before  breakfast,  and  so  I  went  in,  and 
changing  my  dress  went  out  to  take  a 
walk.  As  I  went  along  the  paths,  I 
could  not  help  feeling  overcome.  It  was 
a  beautiful  spring  morning,  the  dew  was 
on  the  grass,  and  the  birds  were  singing 
their  morning  song  of  praise  to  the  Maker 
of  all  things,  as  they  soared  towards 
heaven.  When  my  breakfast  bell  rang, 
I  came  in  and  told  my  mother  of  my 
pleasant  walk,  and  she  seemed  very  glad. 
The  next  morning  my  mother  showed  me 
how  to  plant  seeds,  after  which  she  water- 
ed them,  as  she  said  the  watering-pot  was 
too  large  for  me,  but  that  she  was  going 

2 


26 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


to  buy  me  one,  so  that  I  could  water  my 
plants  when  they  came  up.  In  a  clay  or 
two  my  mother,  her  governess  and  I  went 
into  the  city  and  bought  me  a  little  water- 
ing pot,  and  a  little  book  that  treated  of 
gardening,  which  I  put  with  my  other 
books.  One  morning,  about  two  weeks 
after  planting  my  seeds,  I  was  surprised  to 
see  several  little  green  things  which  I 
thought  were  weeds,  and  I  was  just  going 
to  pull  them  up,  when  I  happened  to  think 
that  perhaps  they  might  not  be  weeds 
after  all,  and  that  I  would  stop  and  ask  my 
mother.  My  mother  appearing  up  the 
gravel  walks  just  then,  I  asked  her  what 
they  were,  and  she  told  me  that  they  were 
the  plants  just  beginning  to  come  up,  and 
that  I  must  water  them  every  morning 
carefully,  and  soon  they  would  come  up 
higher  and  higher ;  then  the  leaves  would 
come  out,  and  at  last  little  buds  would 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


27 


shoot  forth  and  turn  into  flowers.  But  in 
order  to  have  them  do  so,  I  must  keep  all 
the  weeds  away  from  them,  water  them 
morning  and  evening,  and  put  up  sticks 
for  the  running  ones. 


28 


MEMOIRS    OF  A 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BLACKBERRYING. 

At  six  the  next  morning  we  both  got 
up  (that  is,  my  mother  and  I),  and  began 
dressing  ourselves.  "  Stop,  Josephine," 
said  she,  "  don't  put  on  that  dress,  as 
you  are  not  going  out  into  the  garden 
this  morning."  "  Why  not,"  said  I,  but  I 
began  to  take  off  my  dress.  "  Because," 
said  my  mother,  "  Geraldine  Norton  has 
invited  me  to  a  blackberrying,  and  you  are 
to  go."  "  Oh  mother,  I  am  so  glad  that  I 
don't  know  what  to  do  with  myself ;  but 
what  dress  am  I  to  wear  1  "  "  Oh,  wear 
your  purple  calico."  In  half  an  hour  we 
were  dressed,  had  our  breakfast  eaten,  and 
wTere  ready  to  go.    I  was  so  impatient  to 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


29 


be  off,  that  I  thought  that  we  should  never 
go.  Pretty  soon  Celeste  (my  mother)  said 
she  saw  them  coming;  and  sure  enough 
there  they  were,  a  whole  troop  of  boys 
and  girls,  with  their  pails  and  baskets. 
Celeste  took  me  up  in  her  arms  and  ran 
with  me  down  the  carriage-way,  not  with- 
out having  brought  her  pail  and  mine. 
We  next  called  for  a  dozen  more  girls  and 
boys  at  their  houses.  At  eight  o'clock  we 
had  got  about  a  couple  of  miles  from  the 
place.  Antoinette  Leland  suddenly  scream- 
ed out,  "  Here  he  comes,  here  he  comes  !  " 
44  What  comes  %  "  cried  they  all.  "  The 
bull,  the  bull,"  said  Antoinette,  and  sure 
enough  there  was  a  monstrous  large  bull 
coming  in  double  quick  time  right  behind 
them.  Such  a  scampering !  Pell-mell 
went  the  whole  troop  to  escape  the  pur- 
suer. At  last  we  sawT  a  little  cave  not 
very  far  off,  and  all  made  a  rush  for  that, 


30 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


when  my  mother  screamed  out  to  George 
Glover,  "  Throw  off  that  red  scarf,  George, 
or  else  the  bull  will  gore  you  to  death. 
Look,  see  how  he  foams  and  how  madly  he 
paws  the  ground !  "  The  scarf  was  off  in 
an  instant,  and  the  bull  rushing  upon  it, 
began  tearing  it  into  a  thousand  pieces. 
When  he  was  doing  this,  we  had  time  to 
get  out  of  his  sight  before  he  made 
another  attempt  to  attack  us.  We  soon 
got  to  the  berrying  place,  and  then  we 
began  to  pick  and  talk  in  earnest.  The 
theme  of  the  conversation  was  about  the 
bull,  and  how  nicely  they  got  away  from 
him.  George  Glover  made  a  wreath  of 
leaves  and  presented  it  to  Celeste,  telling 
her  that  she  was  his  guardian  angel. 
Celeste  gave  him  a  box  on  the  ear,  but 
they  both  laughed  heartily.  In  a  few 
moments  they  heard  screams,  and  beheld 
one  of  the  girls  rolling  down  the  hill,  and 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


31 


all  her  berries  spilt.  One  of  the  boys, 
however,  stopped  her,  and  all  joined  in  fill- 
ing her  basket  again.  At  noon  we  all  had 
dinner,  (each  of  the  party  bringing  some- 
thing,) under  a  group  of  trees.  The 
dinner  was  an  excellent  one.  We  brought 
clear  cool  water  from  the  spring,  and 
squeezed  berries  into  it ;  we  had  meats 
and  every  thing  that  we  could  want  to 
make  a  gipsy  dinner.  One  of  the  boys, 
Charles  Hammond,  to  improve  the  repast, 
took  a  jews-harp  out  of  his  pocket,  and 
played  several  tunes,  beginning  with  "  God 
save  the  Queen,"  and  ending  with  an  air 
from  "  Linda  di  Chamounix."  His  per- 
formance was  loudly  cheered.  Bella  Bar- 
ker, one  of  the  gayest  of  the  girls,  then 
got  up  and  made  a  speech,  which  was  also 
clapped  and  cheered.  The  dinner  was 
then  finished,  and  we  went  to  pick  some 
more  berries  to  make  up  for  the  ones 


32 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


we  had  eaten.  On  our  way  home,  my 
mother  and  all  the  rest  stopped  to  pick 
wild  flowers,  when  Lorgnette  Edwards 
ran  forward  to  gather  a  little  blue  and 
white  flower  which  was  a  little  before  her. 
Suddenly  she  began  to  scream,  and  run- 
ning to  the  place  where  she  stood,  we 
found  ourselves  in  no  very  pleasant  situa- 
tion, as  we  had  got  upon  a  marshy  place, 
and  were  over  our  shoes  in  mud  and  wa- 
ter. We  all  began  scrambling  out  as  fast 
as  we  could,  and  turned  our  faces  the 
other  way.  We  went  to  a  little  spring 
that  we  saw,  and  taking  off  our  shoes  and 
stockings,  gave  them  a  washing  out,  for 
we  said  that  we  preferred  to  have  wet 
stockings  and  shoes  on  our  feet  to  mud- 
dy ones.  After  going  a  little  way  we  saw 
a  wild  cherry  tree,  up  which  the  boys  soon 
scrambled,  and  threw  down  the  fruit  into 
our  aprons.    We  got  home   about  six 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  33 

o'clock,  having  been  gone  eleven  hours. 
I  felt  very  tired,  and  was  glad  to  have 
my  supper,  and  get  into  bed. 


34 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  VII. 

BALLS,  PARTIES,  &c. 

About  a  week  after  my  dresses  were 
made,  my  mother  said  that  we  were  going 
to  the  opera  that  night,  and  the  opera  was 
going  to  be  "Robert  le  Diable."  Oh! 
how  glad  I  was  ;  I  almost  went  out  my 
wits  for  joy,  for  now  I  knew  that  I  should 
see  some  most  splendid  things.  I  was 
dressed  in  a  blue  silk,  with  an  opera  cloak 
and  hood  ;  my  mother  was  dressed  so  also. 
At  last  we  came  to  the  opera.  Oh,  how 
my  heart  beat !  After  sitting  a  little 
while,  the  musicians  began  to  play.  Oh ! 
such  music ;  I  felt  as  if  I  never  wanted  to 
go  home,  but  wanted  to  stay  there  all  my 
life.  My  mother  then  told  me  to  hark 
and  try  to  hear  a  little  bell  that  would 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  35 

ring  very  soon.  I  listened,  and  in  a  min- 
ute I  heard  it  ring,  and  then  ring  again, 
and  then  the  curtain  was  pulled  up.  The 
most  beautiful  singing  that  ever  I  heard 
was  sung  that  night.  I  felt  as  if  I  was 
above  the  clouds,  and  listening  to  angels 
instead  of  mortals.  By  and  by  the  cur- 
tain came  down,  and  then  my  mother 
told  me  that  wras  the  end  of  the  opera, 
but  there  was  to  be  a  ballet  soon.  I  now 
had  an  opportunity  to  look  round  the 
house.  The  place  was  immense,  and  was 
filled  with  people.  I  never  saw  so  many 
before  in  all  my  life,  and  I  never  could 
have  believed  that  so  many  persons  could 
be  got  into  one  place.  Pretty  soon  we  had 
the  ballet,  and  if  I  was  pleased  with  the 
singing  I  was  still  more  so  with  the  danc- 
ing. The  ballet  was  "  La  Sylphide,"  and 
Taglioni  took  the  principal  part.  We  got 
home  about  one  o'clock,  and  I  laid  till  ten 


36 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


the  next  morning,  I  was  so  sleepy.  In  a 
couple  of  weeks  my  mother  took  me  to 
the  Earl  of  Egmont's  ball,  where  we  had 
a  most  superb  supper.  There  were  about 
six  hundred  persons  there,  and  I  passed  a 
most  delightful  night.  I  got  home  at 
twelve  o'clock.  I  thanked  my  mother 
next  morning  for  all  her  kindness  to  me, 
and  she  told  me  in  the  future  that  I 
should  accompany  her  to  all  the  balls  she 
went  to.  So  I  went  to  a  great  many  balls 
and  parties,  to  which  I  owe  my  present 
polished  manners.  Even  in  the  midst  of 
their  gaiety  I  had  not  forgotten  my 
mother  Emma  Arthurst,  and  my  sister 
Ellen,  and  was  on  the  point  of  asking  my 
present  mother  to  let  me  go  and  see  them, 
when  she  came  running  into  the  room  and 
said,  "  Dear  Josey,  here  is  a  letter  for  you 
from  your  last  mother  Emma."  It  ran 
thus :  — 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

doll's  correspondence. 

Dear  Josey,  — 

I  at  last  thought  that  I  would  write 
you.  I  hope  you  have  not  quite  forgot- 
ten your  last  mamma,  for  I  have  not  for- 
gotten vou.  Your  sister  Ellen  still  con- 
tinued  the  same  bad  girl,  and  so  I  sent 
her  to  a  ragman  who  gave  me  a  shilling 
for  her,  though  I  guess  he  will  repent  of 
his  bargain  before  long,  if  she  acts  as 
naughty  as  she  has  with  me.  I  am  very 
busy  now.  I  help  my  mother  in  a  great 
many  things,  and  am  quite  useful  to  her. 

From  Emily  Arthurst. 

I  wrote  back  an  answer  which  was 
this :  — 


38 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


Dear  Mother  Emily,  — 

Indeed  I  have  not  forgotten  you,  as 
you  thought.  Although  I  have  every 
thing  I  can  wish  for,  jewelry,  clothes, 
and  food,  yet  I  can  never  forget  the  hap- 
py year  I  passed  with  you.  I  had  hoped 
that  my  sister  Ellen  would  have  re- 
formed, but  I  am  very  sorry  that  she 
has  not.  My  present  mamma  is  very  kind 
to  me ;  she  has  taken  me  to  the  opera 
and  to  balls  and  parties. 

From  your  affectionate  daughter,  that 
was,  Josephine  Arnoldson. 

About  a  week  after  I  received  another 
letter  which  read  thus  :  — 

My  dear  Daughter,  — 

I  am  very  much  pleased  to  hear  that 
you  still  remember  me  as  well  as  I  remem- 
ber you,  and  that  you  hoped  that  Ellen 
would  reform.    I  hope  you  enjoy  your- 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  39 

self  where  you  are,  and  see  as  many  nice 
things  as  you  can  wish.  Inclosed  I  send 
you  a  nice  little  pen  for  you  to  write  me 
letters  with  once  a  week,  if  your  mamma 
will  let  you. 

From  your  late  mother, 

Emily  Arthurst. 

I  answered  it :  — 

Dear  mother,  — 

I  am  very  much  pleased  with  my  pen, 
and  my  present  mother  has  given  me  leave 
to  write  once  a  week. 

Josephine  Arnoldson. 


40 


MEMOIRS    OF  A 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  SEASHORE. 

My  mother  Celeste  once  took  me  down 
to  Ramsgate,  thinking,  as  she  said,  that 
I  needed  sea-bathing.  She  packed  her 
clothes  and  mine,  and  ordered  my  house 
(the  baby-house)  to  be  carried  behind  her. 
The  next  morning  my  mother  rode  in  her 
carriage,  which  was  made  expressly  for 
herself  and  me,  to  the  water-side,  where 
we  went  into  a  little  house,  and  putting  on 
our  bathing  clothes,  jumped  into  the  wa- 
ter. My  mother  had  fastened  me  by  a 
string  to  her  waist,  and  so  could  swim 
without  being  troubled  by  me.  She  then 
showed  me  how  to  keep  myself  above 
water  and  how  to  swim,  for  she  said  that 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


41 


soon  she  was  going  to  let  me  bathe  alone. 
I  enjoyed  the  water  very  much,  and 
thought  what  a  great  loss  it  must  be  to 
some  dolls,  wTho  cannot  go  into  the  water 
because  their  complexion  will  not  allow 
them  to  be  washed  in  any  thing  but  sweet 
oil  or  butter.  I  thought  how  sticky  it 
must  feel  during  the  process,  and  how 
uncomfortable  it  must  be  afterwards.  We 
went  into  the  little  house  again,  after 
bathing,  and  put  on  our  skirts  and  dresses. 
All  day  it  was  very  hot,  and  we  remained 
in  the  house  reading,  until  evening,  when 
we  went  to  bathe  again.  While  bathing, 
I  saw  several  large  birds  fly  over  the 
water,  and  several  times  dip  down  into  the 
waves.  I  asked  my  mother  what  they 
were,  and  she  said  they  were  sea-gulls. 

The  next  morning,  when  we  were  in 
the  midst  of  bathing,  there  was  the  cry  of 
"A  shark!  a  shark!"    As  soon  as  this 

3 


42 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


was  said,  every  one  started  for  the  shore, 
and  all  got  there  safely,  except  one  little 
girl,  about  nine  years  of  age,  who  was  so 
frightened  that  she  could  not  swim.  The 
shark  was  nearing  to  her  every  moment. 
At  last  a  strong  and  brave  man  jumped 
into  the  water,  and  swimming  up  to  the 
shark,  killed  him  with  a  long  knife  which 
he  carried  in  his  belt.  After  a  couple  of 
w^eeks  spent  in  this  manner,  we  went 
home. 


i 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


43 


CHAPTER  X. 

AN  ACCIDENT. 

In  about  a  month  I  had  a  terrible  acci- 
dent, which  I  am  about  to  relate.  One 
summer  afternoon,  as  I  was  looking  out 
the  window,  I  fell  out  of  it  into  a  wind- 
ing stream,  where  I  lay  floating  down  I 
don't  know  where.  I  was  so  stunned  by 
the  fall  that  I  fainted,  and  did  not  recover 
myself  till  I  had  floated  some  miles. 
When  I  recovered,  I  found  that  I  was  in 
the  hands  of  some  fishermen,  (they  were 
not  regular  fishermen,  but  only  angling 
for  sport,)  who  examined  me  very  atten- 
tively. At  last  one  said,  "I'm  sure  I 
don't  know  what  to  do  with  this  little 
doll."    "  Oh !  "  said  the  other  one,  "  there 


44 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


goes  a  little  milk-maid,  let's  give  it  to  her." 
"  So  I  say,"  said  the  first.  "  Here  little 
girl,  don't  you  want  a  doll  1  if  you  do,  here 
is  one."  "  Thank  you,  Sir,"  said  my  new 
mother,  whose  name  was  Agnes  Earl, 
"  I'm  very  much  obliged  to  you."  So 
Agnes  took  me  home.  She  was  a  very 
pretty  little  girl.  She  had  black  eyes, 
black  hair,  and  a  dark  complexion.  I 
passed  a  very  pleasant  life  with  my  new 
mother.  She  used  often  to  talk  to  me  in 
a  very  motherly  way  ;  such  as  this  :  "  My 
dear  Josephine,  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you 
behave  so  well,  and  I  am  very  sorry  that 
I  cannot  bring  you  into  better  society 
than  I  can.  However,  I  think  that  we 
had  better  not  worry  about  it,  as  you  are 
almost  polished  enough."  My  mother 
used  to  talk  to  me  in  this  way  of  evenings, 
and  I  hope  I  profited  by  some  of  her  lec- 
tures to  me  on  goodness.     My  mother 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


45 


used  often  to  give  me  baths,  to  which  I 
think  I  owe  my  good  health.  One  after- 
noon, after  my  mother  had  bathed  me,  as 
was  her  usual  custom,  and  had  laid  me  in 
the  sun  to  dry,  two  little  girls  came  along 
and  picked  me  up. 


46 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  XL 


QUARRELSOME  MOTHERS. 

"  Holloa  !  here's  a  doll,  I'll  have  it." 
said  the  biggest  girl,  whose  name  was 
Martha  Griggs. 

"  No  you  wTon't,  either,  so  there  you 
told  a  lie,"  said  Madge  Griggs. 

"  I'm  the  oldest,  and  ought  to  have  it," 
screamed  Martha. 

"  And  I'm  the  youngest,  and  the  oldest 
ought  to  give  up  to  the  smallest  one,"  said 
Madge. 

"  You  shan't,  you  shan't,  you  impudent 
jade,  so  you  may  just  clear  out  of  the 
way,"  yelled  Martha,  striking  her  sister 
with  all  her  might. 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  47 

"  Oh  !  oh !  oh !  how  you  have  hurt  me  ! 
I  shall  tell  mother  of  you  as  soon  as  we 
get  home,"  said  Madge. 

"  I  don't  care  if  you  do,  Miss,"  said 
Martha. 

Then  they  went  home,  Martha  with  the 
doll,  and  Madge  following  behind  her  all 
the  way.  I  thought  that  I  was  very  un- 
fortunate in  the  change  of  my  mammas, 
for,  thought  I,  I  can't  pass  a  very  pleasant 
time  with  these  quarrelsome  mammas, 
and  I'm  afraid  that  I  may  have  my  legs 
or  arms,  or  even  my  head  broken  in  a 
fray,  which  I  should  not  like  very  much. 
At  last  we  came  to  the  house  where  they 
lived,  and  then  we  had  supper,  and  I  was 
put  to  bed.  I  cried  very  much  that  night, 
for  I  was  sad  at  leaving  my  little  mother 
Agnes,  and  I  felt  bad  at  having  such  quar- 
relsome mothers  as  I  now  had.  I  never 
could  get  a  moment's  peace,  for  if  one  of 


48 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


my  mothers  wanted  me  put  to  bed,  the 
other  one  wanted  me  to  get  up.  I  can 
remember  one  day  what  a  quarrel  occur- 
red, and  these  were  the  words,  as  nearly  as 
I  can  recollect.  "  Madge,  where's  my 
doll !  "  "  It 's  not  your  doll."  "  That 's  a 
lie."  "  It  aint,  111  have  that  doll."  "  You 
won't,  I  found  it  in  the  grass."  "  I'm  the 
youngest  and  ought  to  have  it.  Father 
says  you  ought  to  give  up  to  the  youngest." 
"  Will  you  tell  me  where  that  doll  is,  for 
I  want  to  put  its  apron  on  1 "  "  Ah,  ha, 
you  won't  get  it  now,  if  you  want  to  put 
its  apron  on,  for  I  am  going  to  put  its 
worst  dress  on,  so  as  to  let  it  slabber  in 
the  dirt."  "No  you  won't,  either,"  and 
Martha  gave  Madge  slap  after  slap,  and 
slap  after  slap,  till  I  thought  that  Madge 
would  never  see  light  again.  That  night 
when  I  went  to  bed,  I  thought  how  much 
better  it  would  have  been  for  Martha  to 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


49 


have  kindly  asked  Madge  for  me,  and  for 
Madge  to  have  answered  kindly ;  and  I 
hope  that  all  my  readers  will  never  imitate 
Madge  and  Martha. 


50 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  SNOW-MEN. 

The  next  day  after  the  quarrel,  my 
mother  said  that  the  children,  during 
recess  at  school,  were  going  to  make  a 
"  snow-man,"  and  that  they  would  take 
me  to  school  with  them.  At  twelve  they 
had  their  recess,  when  Martha,  not  finding 
her  scarf  as  usual,  laid  the  loss  of  it  to 
Madge,  and  said,  "  You,  Madge,  what 
have  you  done  with  my  scarf?  bring  it 
here."  "  I  have  not  clone  any  thing  with  it," 
said  Madge.  "  You  lie,"  was  the  coarse 
and  unladylike  retort.  At  last  Martha 
found  her  scarf,  hanging  on  her  nail,  with 
her  cloak  over  it.  When  we  got  into 
the  yard,  my  mothers  brushed  away  the 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


51 


snow  from  off  a  little  place  on  the  steps, 
and  set  me  down  there  to  see  the  making 
of  the  snow-man.  The  manner  of  making 
it  was  thus :  —  They  each  took  a  small 
snow-ball  and  rolled  it  in  the  snow,  over 
and  over,  and  then  they  joined  all  together 
and  made  one  large  ball.  They  then  took 
a  stick  and  made  a  couple  of  holes  in  the 
ball  for  eyes,  and  made  a  straight  mark, 
rather  deep,  for  his  mouth,  and  then  took 
a  piece  of  snow  and  made  it  into  a  nose, 
as  well  as  they  could,  and  fastened  it  on. 
Then  they  made  another  ball  considerably 
larger  than  the  first,  for  his  body,  and  put 
his  head  upon  it.  Legs  and  arms  were 
also  fastened  upon  the  body.  When  this 
was  done,  they  all  gave  three  cheers,  and 
went  into  the  school-room. 

Whem  my  mother  got  home,  they 
thought  that  they  would  try  and  make 
a  snow-man,  such  as  the  boys  had  made 
in  the  school-yard. 


52 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


They  had  got  the  head  made,  and  were 
looking  after  a  stick  with  which  to  make 
the  eyes  and  mouth,  when  down  came  the 
head  upon  Madge,  knocking  her  down  to 
the  ground,  and  covering  her  up  with  snow. 
As  soon  as  she  had  extricated  herself,  she 
let  loose  her  tongue,  and  another  scene 
and  storm  of  words  followed  after  their 
usual  manner.  Such  frequent  disputes  as 
these  made  me  regret  more  and  more  my 
previous  home,  and  long  to  make  some 
change,  which  I  thought  must  certainly 
be  for  the  better ;  but  the  time  had  not 
yet  come. 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  53 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  THEATRE. 

The  next  week  the  children's  teacher 
said  that  he  would  take  them  to  the 
"  Theatre,"  for  they  had  behaved  so  well ! 
I  thought  differently. 

There  was  nothing  talked  of  but  the 
"Theatre"  from  morning  till  night;  and 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  this  was  a  subject 
of  dispute  too.  One  said  they  would  get 
the  first  bill  and  have  theirs  read  through 
first,  and  the  other  wTas  going  to  hear  the 
bell  jingle  first,  and  sit  in  the  front  seat ; 
one  was  going  to  be  looked  at  the  most, 
and  be  dressed  first ;  and  the  other  was 
going  to  get  into  the  carriage  first,  and 
get  the  best  seat,  and  so  on.    The  day 


54 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


at  length  arrived.  I  felt  happy,  too, 
though  there  was  such  dispute,  for  I 
remembered  when  I  went  to  the  "  Opera" 
with  my  late  mother,  Celeste  Belmont, 
and  how  I  enjoyed  myself.  The  children 
were  in  high  spirits,  and  kept  incessantly 
talking  of  what  a  nice  time  they  would 
have  if  they  were  only  there  now.  I 
longed  to  tell  them  to  have  a  little 
patience,  but  I  was  afraid  I  should  get  my 
neck  broke  if  I  did  so.  At  length  the 
maid  arrived  to  dress  them,  and  in  their 
hurry  to  get  up  stairs  before  each  other, 
Madge  tumbled  down  stairs,  but  did  not 
hurt  her  much.  Such  dressing,  why  you 
would  almost  think  their  clothes  flew  off, 
as  did  their  buttons,  in  their  hurry  to  get 
dressed  before  each  other.  Martha  got 
dressed  first,  and  then  she  went  for  me. 
I  was  in  a  pink  muslin,  with  blue  roses 
in  my  hair,  and  my  mother  thought  I 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


55 


looked  splendidly.  We  lived  out  of  town, 
and  had  to  ride  into  the  city,  so  we 
had  a  very  nice  ride.  We  went  to  the 
"  Covent  Garden  Theatre."  It  is  a  splen- 
did place,  but  not  so  pretty  as  the  "  Eoyal 
Italian  Opera  House,"  where  I  went  with 
my  mother,  Celeste  Belmont.  There  was 
some  scrambling  to  get  the  front  seat  be- 
tween Madge  and  Martha,  but  at  last  it 
was  settled.  We  sat  in  a  stage  box, 
which  was  beautiful.  The  play  began. 
There  was  once  a  beautiful  young  girl, 
and  she  had  two  lovers ;  she  liked  one, 
and  the  other  she  didn't  like ;  and  there 
were  meetings,  and  tumbling-down  places, 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  At  last  this 
pretty  young  girl  married  the  lover .  she 
liked,  and  the  other  lover  went  away,  when 
I  tumbled  on  to  the  stage  in  a  bouquet 
which  they  threw,  though  they  did  not 
know  that  they  had  thrown  me. 


56 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MY"  STAGE  EXPERIENCE. 

I  was  now  in  the  hands  of  a  pretty  little 
"  dans  ease, "  wTho  ran  with  me  into  the 
"  green-room,"  saying,  "  Oh !  mother,  see 
this  beautiful  Dolly,  that  was  thrown  to 
me  in  a  bouquet ;  isn't  it  pretty  1  " 

"  Yes,  "  said  her  mother,  "  it  is  very 
pretty,  but  hadn't  you  better  put  it  down, 
and  go  and  dance  the  "  Craccovienne," 
which  you  have  got  to  dance  ? "  "  Certainly, 
mother,  as  soon  as  I  have  got  my  heels 
on."  I  found  out  soon  afterwards  that  it 
was  her  dancing  heels.  My  new  mother's 
name  was  Caroline  Eldgrave.  We  soon 
went  home  to  a  very  nice  house,  where 
we  boarded.     That  night  how  thankful 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


57 


I  was  that  I  had  got  away  from  Madge 
and  Martha,  for  now  I  felt  I  should  en- 
joy myself  very  much ;  and  besides  that, 
I  should  see  behind  the  scenes,  and  be 
in  the  dressing-room,  which  I  had  often 
wished  for.  The  next  clay  my  mother 
took  me  to  the  rehearsal,  and  when  she 
began  to  dance,  she  put  me  beside  one 
of  the  wings,  so  that  I  might  learn  to 
dance.  We  lived  out  in  the  country, 
about  ten  miles  south  of  my  late  mothers 
house,  in  a  very  neat  cottage.  My  new 
mother  taught  me  a  great  many  fancy 
dances,  among  which  were  "  La  Cachuca," 
"  La  Craccovienne,"  "  La  Smolenska," 
"  Highland  Fling,"  and  a  great  many 
"  hornpipes,"  besides  quadrilles,  polkas, 
waltzes,  and  the  Mazurka,  Eedowa,  and 
Schottische.  My  mother  was  to  dance 
and  act  in  a  new  pantomime,  which  was 
called  "  The  Elements  and  Fairies  ;  "  and 


58  MEMOIRS   OF  A 

which  she  was  determined  to  have  me  act 
in.  So  she  asked  the  manager  if  he  could 
not  have  me  do  something  in  it.  The 
manager  consented,  and  when  my  mother 
told  me,  oh !  how  happy  I  felt.  My 
mother  took  me  to  the  rehearsal  every  day 
with  her,  and  made  me  a  (Jress.  It  was 
of  white  gauze,  over  white  satin,  with 
gold  spangles,  and  a  gold  paper  crown  on 
my  head.  Of  course  I  had  little  silver 
shoes  and  fleshings.  I  was  to  represent 
the  Fairy's  guard  in  the  clouds,  and  to 
appear  in  a  sun.  I  at  first  felt  rather 
giddy  when  I  mounted  the  pedal  behind 
the  sun,  but  I  soon  got  accustomed  to  it. 
I  appeared  to  a  lover  in  a  dream.  I  did 
not  feel  degraded,  and  I  hope  my  readers 
will  not  think  less  of  me. 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  59 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PANTOMIME. 

The  evening  arrived.  We  drove  into 
town  rather  earlier  than  usual.  My 
mother  let  me  peep  through  a  little  slit 
in  the  curtain  to  see  if  the  house  was 
full.  The  play  commenced,  and  was  as 
follows  :  First,  there  came  a  most  beauti- 
ful fairy,  and  said,  "  Elements,  I  beg  your 
aid;  come  forward!  and  be  not  afraid." 
Immediately  a  water-fall  that  was  pouring 
over  some  rocks  divided,  and  a  most  beau- 
tiful fairy  came  out,  and  said,  "  Queen,  I 
come  at  thy  command,  what  would'st  thou 
have  ?  "  "  Be  patient,  spirit."  Then  the 
Fairy  of  Air  appeared,  and  said,  "  Queen, 
what  would'st   thou  \ "    "  Be  patient." 


60  MEMOIRS   OF  A 

Then  the  Fairy  of  Earth  came  right  out 
of  -  the  floor,  and  said,  "  O  Queen,  I 
come  at  thy  call."  "  Be  patient."  Then 
the  Spirit  of  Fire  came  forth  out  of  a 
rock  with  a  loud  hissing  noise,  and  said 
"  What  would  ye  have  me  do  %  I'll  burn 
down  houses  and  land,  nor  deal  with  a 
partial  hand."  "  Stop,"  said  the  Queen, 
"  none  of  this  !  Instead  of  hurting,  I  want 
you  all  to  befriend,  a  poor  young  man, 
who  goes  to  get  the  talismanic  wand, 
which  will  put  him  in  possession  of  the 
most  beautiful  princess  in  the  world. 
Therefore  I  request  that  you  shall  aid 
him."  Then  they  all  answered,  "  What- 
ever is  thy  will,  we  do."  The  next  scene 
was  a  wood,  where  this  young  man  passes 
through,  and  is  attacked  by  demons, 
snakes,  bears,  and  all  sorts  of  bad  things. 
At  length  he  goes  to  sleep,  and  I  appear 
to  him  in  a  sun,  and  hold  a  scroll,  which 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


61 


says  on  it,  "  Persevere  !  the  fairies,  thy 
guardians,  are  ever  near."  Then  the  scene 
changes  to  a  demon's  place  of  resort.  Here 
all  is  fire  and  demons,  with  square  faces, 
and  some  with  hump-backs  and  gog- 
gle-eyes, claws,  wings,  and  tails.  The 
king  then  said,  "  Ye  devils  of  lower  re- 
gions, come  forward  ! "  And  instantly  a 
whole  troop  of  devils,  of  all  shapes  and 
sizes,  came  forward.  He  then  told  them 
that  he  wanted  them  to  exert  themselves, 
and  try  to  keep  that  young  man  from  get- 
ting the  wand,  so  that  he  could  not  get 
the  princess.  Then  one  of  the  devils  said 
that  he  would  go  and  misguide  him  ;  and 
so  he  dressed  up  as  a  handsome  young 
man,  and  went  and  met  this  man  that  was 
going  to  get  the  wand,  and  said,  "  Friend, 
where  goest  thou  I"  "I  go  to  seek  the 
wand."  "  You  do  !  why  then  you  have 
got  the   wrong   path."    "  I  have  !  why 


# 

62 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


'twas  only  a  minute  ago  that  an  old  man 
said  that  I  had  the  right  path,  if  I  went 
to  seek  the  wand."  "  Do  not  believe  him  ; 
he  lies  ;  that  is  the  way  which  lies  open 
before.  Take  that  path  there.  Adieu !  " 
The  young  man  that  was  to  seek  the 
wand,  said,  "How  lucky  that T  met  that 
man  ;  for  if  I  had  not  I  should  have  gone 
the  wrong  way,  and  missed  the  princess 
for  ever."  Then  there  was  a  clashing 
sound,  and  I  appeared  in  the  sun,  and 
held  another  scroll,  which  said,  "  That 
young  man  is  a  demon  disguised,  and  has 
led  you  into  the  wrong  path.  Take  this 
ball  and  throw  it  before  you,  and  wher- 
ever it  rolls,  you  follow."  I  threw  him 
down  a  ball.  He  then  followed  the  ball,  and 
disappeared.  The  next  scene  was,  where 
the  "  Fairies  "  were,  and  they  sung  splen- 
didly. Presently  the  Queen  came  through 
the  air,  riding  in  a  chariot,  drawn  by  pea- 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  63 

cocks.  She  said,  "  Listen,  Fairies."  Then 
the  fairies  said,  u  We  will."  The  Queen 
said,  "  The  young  man  will  soon  reach  the 
palace  where  the  wand  is  kept.  I  wish 
you  to  help  him  across  the  '  Golden  Lake.' 
Now  disperse."  Then  all  the  fairies  dis- 
appeared. The  next  scene  was,  where 
the  demons  were,  again ;  and  the  demons 
screamed  horribly,  and  the  King  came 
through  the  air,  in  a  coach,  drawn  by  ser- 
pents, and  said,  "Hark, Demons ;"  and  the 
demons  said,  "  We  will."  The  King  said, 
"  The  young  man,  who  will  soon  be  at  the 
palace  in  spite  of  our  endeavors,  is  to 
cross  the  6  Golden  Lake ; '  and  I  wish  you 
to  do  all  in  your  power  to  prevent  him 
from  getting  the  wand.  Now  go  ; "  and 
all  the  devils  went.  The  next  scene  was 
the  palace,  where  the  wand  was  kept,  and 
the  young  man  got  the  wand  in  spite 
of  all  the  devils  and  bats,  owls,  serpents, 


64 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


dragons,  and  ghosts.  As  soon  as  he  had 
got  the  wand  in  his  hands,  the  devils  all 
nttered  a  scream,  and  went  through  the 
floor,  and  a  chariot  came  through  the  air 
with  the  "  Princess,"  (who  was  my  mother) 
and  the  "  Fairy  Queen. "  The  scene 
changed  to  a  most  beautiful  garden,  with 
the  palace  of  the  sun  at  the  back,  and  the 
sun  over  it,  and  I  in  it.  All  the  perform- 
ers were  on  the  stage  at  once,  and  danced 
a  "  Fancy  Dance."  This  ended  the  pan- 
tomime, or  rather  spectacle,  for  nearly  all 
spoke.  After  the  performance,  a  little 
girl  came  in  the  dressing-room,  and  her 
father  and  mother.  My  mother  saw  that 
she  cast  longing  eyes  at  me,  and  so  she 
stepped  up,  and  said,  "  Will  you  be  so 
kind  as  to  accept  of  this  Doll'?"  The  little 
girl  said  she  would. 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


65 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MY  NEXT  MOTHER. 

We  then  drove  home.  My  mother's 
name  was  Garafelina  Shoppard.  They 
were  a  very  vulgar,  purse-proud,  stuck- 
up  people.  My  little  mother  was  all  the 
time  talking  to  me  about  money,  and 
making  a  show.  We  went  to  a  party  one 
night.  My  mother's  mother,  (my  grand- 
mother) did  not  know  how  to  dress  in  good 
taste  at  all.  She  was  dressed  in  a  black 
and  yellow  changeable  silk,  and  my  mother 
was  dressed  in  a  green  and  orange,  with  a 
wreath  of  red  roses  in  her  hair.  My  grand- 
mother tried  to  talk  French,  but  she  mis- 
pronounced every  word.  That  evening, 
when  any  one  was  introduced,  she  would 


66  MEMOIRS  OF  A 

ask  them  if  they  could  "  barley  vouse  frog's 
hay" — and  at  supper,  she  said  that  she 
would  take  "  chockalat"  it  was  such  a 
"  soul  stirring  beverage"  She  took  ice 
cream,  and  said  that  "  she  always  took 
ice  cream,  bekase  she  thought  it  cooled  her 
heterogeneous  and  amalgamated  system ; 
besides,  it  was  the  merry  month  of  Jew- 
win."  At  home,  when  we  had  company, 
she  always  talked  so.  We  had  some 
pretty  high  folks,  for  she  had  worked  her 
way  into  the  upper  ten.  One  evening  Sir 
Thomas  Fitz-Patrick  came  to  see  her.  At 
tea,  she  said,  "  Dear  Sir,  let  me  persuade 
you  to  take  one  airy  mouthful  of  \fram 
boysesj  or  else  do  condescend  to  taste  some 
4  fr omnia ge  it  is  quite  new,  my  Lord, 
and  I  hope  it  will  please  your  c  diddle 
de  toryj  taste."  After  tea,  she  said,  "  Oh  ! 
My  Lord,  don't  you  perfectly  adore  Byron 
and  Shakspeare  \    I  think  that  one  is  so 


COUNTRY  DOLL.  67 

4  clierubimicalj  and  the  other  so  4  seraph- 
icaV  Don't  you  recollect  that  passage 
from  4  Macbeth,'  in  act  second,  and  scene 
second,  4  Hark,  who  lies  i'  the  second 
chamber ; '  and  in  Hamlet's  8  solakey '  in 
scene  fifth,  act  first,  4  Alas  !  poor  ghost] '  " 
My  little  mother  used  to  prink  before 
the  glass,  and  hold  me  up  to  see  how 
handsome  I  was,  till  I  was  very  tired  of 
looking  at  myself.  My  mother  never  let 
me  do  any  sewing,  for  fear  I  should  spoil 
my  fingers,  and  thus  I  passed  a  very  idle 
life.  I  could  not  read  much,  as  my  mother 
was  afraid  that  I  would  hurt  my  eyes. 
One  day  my  mother  said,  that  her  grand- 
mother was  coming  to  live  with  us,  and 
also  her  aunt,  who  was  not  married.  She 
said  that  she  hated  old  maids,  though 
they  had  got  to  come ;  but  she  would 
not  speak  to  them.  I  was  very  sorry 
indeed  to  hear  this. 


68 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NUTTING. 

CbTE  clay,  before  her  grandmother  and 
aunt  came,  my  fine  mother,  Garafelina, 
told  me  that  she  had  been  invited  to  a 
nutting,  but  as  a  nutting  was  so  low 
a  pastime,  she  had  half  a  mind  not  to 
go.  Her  mother,  however,  told  her,  she 
would  cut  such  a  grand  show,  that  she 
had  better  go  ;  so  she  had  consented,  and 
was  going  to  take  me  with  her.  The 
next  morning  my  mother  was  up  early, 
and  awoke  me,  when  the  following  con- 
versation was  held  :  —  "  Josey,  my  dear,  I 
think  you  had  better  have  on  your  silk 
dress,  as  I  want  you  to  make  a  grand 
show,"  said  my  mother.     "But,"  said  I, 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


69 


"  hadn't  I  better  wear  another,  as  I  may 
spoil  it?"  "  Why,  child,"  what  can  you 
be  thinking  of?  don't  you  want  to  make 
a  show?"  "Yes,  mother,  but  I  had  ra- 
ther take  comfort  than  make  a  show  ?  " 
"  Stop,  do  as  I  have  bid  you,  and  say  no 
more  about  it."  In  the  course  of  an  hour 
my  mother  and  I  had  got  dressed,  and  as 
we  descended  to  the  dining-room,  Gara- 
felina's  mother  said  to  her,  "  My  clear, 
the  young  misses  and  masters  have  all 
been  waiting  here  some  time,  and  I  told 
them  that  you  were  not  up  yet,  and  so 
they  waited."  "  Dear  me !  how  sorry  I 
am,"  said  my  mother,  in  her  most  affected 
tone,  "  to  have  given  these  young  ladies 
and  gentlemen  the  affliction  of  waiting  for 
me."  "  Not  at  all,"  they  politely  replied. 
We  now  started,  and  as  we  got  out  of  the 
door,  my  mother  started  back,  and  said, 
"  Mercy  on  me  !  haven't  you  any  carriage 


70 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


or  barouche  for  us  to  ride  in,  I  shall  be 
so  extremely  and  exceedingly  fatigued  1 " 
However,  they  had  not,  and  so  we  started 
along  ;  Garafelina  all  the  time  lamenting 
that  she  had  not  got  her  "  landau"  with 
her,  as  she  would  die  very  soon.  In  an 
hour  or  so  we  got  to  the  woods,  where  we 
sat  down  to  rest  ourselves.  While  thus 
resting,  we  heard  a  very  loud  screaming ; 
and  turning  in  the  direction  of  the  cry, 
there  we  saw  my  mother,  Garafelina, 
screeching  with  all  her  might,  "  Oh  save 
me,  save  me  ! "  she  cried.  All  the  boys 
and  girls  ran  to  her,  and  asked  her  what 
was  the  matter.  "  Oh  the  spider,  the  spi- 
der ! "  she  screamed,  and  upon  looking, 
they  found  a  very  small  spider  on  her  dress, 
and  she,  instead  of  shaking  it  off,  began  to 
scream  lustily.  I  thought  my  mother  was 
very  foolish  to  make  so  much  ado  about 
a  little  spider,  but  I  did  not  tell  her  so. 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


71 


Garafelina  being  rid  of  the  spider,  began  to 
gather  the  nuts,  with  the  rest  of  the  party. 
But  then  she  tore  her  dress  on  a  bramble- 
bush,  and  had  her  veil  torn  off  by  the 
boughs,  which  accidents  made  her  so  ill- 
humored,  that  they  all  secretly  agreed 
never  to  invite  her  again.  As  they  were 
going  home,  they  saw  a  drove  of  cows  be- 
fore them,  which  made  my  mother  run 
and  scream  like  a  maniac.  One  of  the 
little  girls  said  that  they  were  her  mother's 
cows,  and  that  if  they  would  come  into 
the  cow-yard,  they  could  see  them  milked. 
None  of  the  party  hesitated  but  Garafe- 
lina, who  said  that  she  did  not  want  to  go 
into  a  dirty  old  cow-yard.  Soon,  however, 
she  changed  her  mind,  and  went.  I  had 
seen  cows  milked  at  my  mother's  house, 
(I  mean  Agnes  Earle's)  ;  but  I  enjoyed 
the  scene  before  me  very  much.  First, 
half  of  the  girls  tried,  and  then  the  other 


72 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


half;  and  then  half  of  the  boys,  and 
then  the  other  half.  "When  it  came 
Garafelina's  turn,  she  went  about  it  so 
awkwardly,  that  it  made  them  all  laugh. 
She  spattered  a  shower  of  milk  over  upon 
her  dress ;  the  cow  knocked  her  .down ; 
and  when  she  got  up,  she  was  indeed  a 
sight  !  Her  dress  and  veil  were  torn,  and 
spattered  with  dirt,  and  her  dress  was  all 
covered  with  spots,  where  the  milk  had 
been  spattered  upon  her.  When  she  got 
home,  she  complained  of  the  ill  treatment 
she  had  received  ;  and  her  mother  said 
that  she  should  never  go  again  to  a  nut- 
ting. 

When  I  went  to  sleep  that  night,  I 
prayed  that  I  might  be  delivered  from 
such  a  mother,  and  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  better  one,  who  had  more  sense,  and 
who  was  not  so  ill-humored  and  proud. 
Early  next  morning  my  mother  told  me 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


73 


sorrowfully,  that  her  old  aunt  and  grand- 
mother were  coming  next  week,  for  which 
I  was  quite  as  sorry  as  my  mother,  for  I 
thought  that  I  had  enough  of  troubles. 


74 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


CHAPTER  XTIII. 

AN  OLD  MAID  AND  A  GRANDMOTHER. 

In  a  week  they  arrived.  The  old  maid 
was  a  quiddling  thing,  and  the  grand- 
mother was  always  saying  that  she  could 
never  get  over  a  cold  ;  and  then  she  would 
tell  how  she  had  got  it.  One  day  this 
aunt  (her  name  was  Betsy  Harper)  said 
to  my  mother,  "  Do  make  your  doll's  hair 
curl  a  little  more  to  the  front,  and  tie  her 
shoe-string  a  little  longer ;  and  there  !  do 
fix  her  apron-string,  I  hate  to  see  it  touch 
the  placket-hole."  "  Oh  ! "  said  her  grand- 
mother, "  never  mind,  Betsy,  if  you  had 
such  a  cold  as  I  have  got ;  I  never  can  get 
rid  of  it,"  "  Do  stop,"  said  Betsy.  This 
aunt  objected  to  my  having  my  soup  eaten 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


75 


so  quick  ;  she  always  allowed  herself  five 
minutes  to  have  it  eaten,  and  no  more, 
nor  less.  Then  I  was  to  hold  my  spoon 
just  so,  and  only  to  put  half  a  spoonful 
in  at  a  time,  for  she  had  known  little  girls 
(and  she  said,  why  not  dolls  as  well  as 
girls?)  to  be  choked  in  taking  a  whole 
spoonful  at  a  time.  Nor  must  I  take  a 
quarter  of  a  spoonful,  as  I  would  not  have 
my  soup  eaten  in  five  minutes.  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  I  often  wished  that  this  aunt 
was  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  not  very  near 
dry  land ;  but  I  suppose  that  it  was  all 
meant  for  my  good.  One  evening  there 
was  company,  and  one  lady  took  me  up, 
and  said,  "  This  is  a  beautiful  doll."  "  But 
don't  you  think  that  she  would  be  hand- 
somer, if  she  had  her  hair  curled  a  little 
closer,  and  if  one  of  her  nostrils  wTas  a 
little  better  shaped,  and  if  one  of  her  eyes 
was  a  little  higher  and   blacker,"  said 


76 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


Betsy  Harper.  "  I  don't  know,  I'm 
sure,"  said  the  lady.  At  this  moment 
Garafelina  came  up,  and  said,  that  if  the 
lady  would  be  pleased  to  accept  of  the 
doll,  and  cari;y  it  home  to  her  little  girl, 
that  she  wTould  be  very  much  obliged  to 
her.  The  lady  thanked  Garafelina,  and 
said  that  Amelia  would'  be  very  much 
pleased  with  me.  I  hoped  that  my  new 
mother  would  take  good  care  of  me,  and 
love  me  very  much.  Whether  she  did  or 
not,  you  will  hear  in  the  next  chapter. 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


77 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ACCIDENTS. 

"  Amelia  see  what  I  have  brought  you," 
said  Mrs.  Joyce^Jher  little  girl. 

"  What  is  it  nWther  I  " 

«  A  most  beautiful  little  doll." 

"  Oh,  goody  !  mother,  how  glad  I  am." 

"  Well,  my  little  girl,  I  am  glad  to  see 
that  you  like  the  doll ;  but  wait  till  morn- 
ing, and  then  you  can  see  her  plainly." 

The  next  day  was  occupied  in  admiring 
me.    Her  mother  said, 

"  Amelia,  now  you  must  be  very  care- 
ful of  this  doll.  Her  name  is  Josephine 
Arnoldson." 

"  Oh  yes,  mother,  I  shall  be  very  careful 
of  her  indeed."    But  in  a  week  my  little 


78  MEMOIRS  OF  A 

mother  began  to  be  rather  careless  of  me  ; 
she  left  me  all  around  the  house,  and  very 
often  left  me  in  the  barn  and  wood-house 
all  night. 

One  day,  when,  as  usual,  she  had  left 
me  on  the  sofa,  a  fat  old  lady  came  in  and 
sat  on  me,  and  broke  one  of  my  arms. 
All  the  time  that  she  "v^as  sitting  on  me, 
she  hurt  me  dreadfully,  and  I  could  not 
speak,  she  suffocated  me  so.  After  she 
had  gone,  my  mother  found  me,  and  said, 
"  Oh,  oh,  my  dear  child  !  how  much  you 
must  have  suffered,  to  have  had  old  Mrs. 
Jones  sit  on  you,  and  I  do  declare  if  your 
arm  is  not  broken  !  "  Her  mother  who 
stood  by,  said, 

"  Amelia,  she  would  not  have  been 
broken  if  you  had  not  left  her  about ;  in 
future  you  must  look  out  where  you  leave 
her ;  and  to-night  I  will  get  your  father 
to  mend  her  arm." 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


79 


My  next  accident  was  thus:  Amelia's 
brother  took  me  by  the  arm  and  flung  me 
round  the  room,  and  then  suddenly  let  me 
drop,  and  cracked  a  piece  out  of  my  head. 
I  was  taken  to  a  shop  where  I  had  my 
head  mended.  One  can  scarcely  notice 
the  mark,  except  a  little  very  white  spot, 
whiter  than  the  rest  of  my  body.  One 
day  Amelia  was  washing  me,  and  she 
held  me  too  near  the  fire  to  dry  me,  when 
my  hair  caught,  and  in  a  moment  was  all 
in  flames.  I  screamed  with  all  my  might, 
and  so  did  my  mother;  and  her  nursery- 
maid caught  me  up  and  soused  me  in  a 
basin  of  water.  Such  a  fright  as  I  was  ! 
my  hair  was  all  burned  off.  It  was  some 
time  before  I  got  over  my  fright  and  pain. 
The  next  week  I  was  taken  to  the  city, 
where  a  barberess  made  me  another  wig. 
One  day  a  large  Newfoundland  dog 'took 
me  up  in  his  mouth,  and  run  away  with  me 


80 


MEMOIRS   OF  A 


only  in  fun,  but  I  was  terribly  frightened. 
In  a  day  he  brought  me  home  again, 
much  to  the  relief  of  my  mother  and  my- 
self. My  mother  told  me  that  she  had 
suffered  very  much  for  my  absence,  and 
she  was  going  to  give  me  up  for  lost,  (for 
one  of  her  servants  said  that  she  had  bet- 
ter hunt  for  me,  but  after  a  while  she  said 
she  couldn't,)  when  her  maid  came  run- 
ning up  with  me,  and  said  that  she  had 
just  found  me  on  the  front-door  step.  In 
a  month  I  had  my  right  leg  broken  very 
badly,  but  after  a  while  it  got  well  again. 
My  mother  carried  me  out  to  walk,  when 
the  same  dog  snatched  me  away,  and  took 
me  to  my  present  mother. 


■ 


Granqt  Place     P  81 


COUNTRY  DOLL. 


81 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CONCLUSION. 

My  new  mother's  name  was  Violet  La 
Grange,  and  she  was  very  much  pleased 
with  me,  and  showed  me  all  round  the 
house.  Every  one  else  seemed  pleased 
with  me  too,  especially  Lily,  her  younger 
sister,  who  patted  the  dog,  and  called  him 
a  "  real  good  dog,"  and  many  other  names. 
The  place  where  I  now  live  is  called  "  La 
Grange  Place,"  and  is  a  most  beautiful 
mansion-house,  with  parks,  and  every- 
thing else  befitting  such  a  splendid  place. 
My  new  mother  made  me  dresses,  and  got 
me  a  little  house,  in  which  I  can  live.  I 
think  I  never  shall  have  any  other  mamma, 
for  she  told  her  little  sister  that  she  should 

7 


82  MEMOIRS   OF   A  COUNTRY  DOLL. 


have  me  when  she  is  herself  too  old  to  play 
with  me.  I  have  formed  an  acquaintance 
with  another  doll,  who  lives  a  little  way 
from  here.  Her  name  is  "  Maria  Poppet," 
and  her  mother  is  Lucy  Ashbourne,  the 
most  intimate  friend  of  my  mother.  For 
Maria  I  entertain  a  most  lively  friend- 
ship, and  when  our  mammas  are  playing 
round,  we  relate  to  each  other  our  adven- 
tures. Maria's  adventures  you  may  read 
in  a  volume  entitled  "  The  London  Doll." 

I  now  close,  —  hoping  that  my  readers 
will  find  as  much  pleasure  in  reading  my 
adventures  as  they  have  had  in  reading- 
Maria's. 


